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ARTICLE · 02 NOVEMBER 2010

IP Australia Tightens Rules for Divisional Applications

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IP Australia, in line with reviews in other jurisdictions, is seeking to address concerns around certainty of patent rights arising from the filing of divisional applications, particularly where divisional applications are filed with identical or substantially identical claims to those originally filed in the parent application(s).

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Peter Heathcote
Peter Heathcote
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IP Australia, in line with reviews in other jurisdictions, is seeking to address concerns around certainty of patent rights arising from the filing of divisional applications, particularly where divisional applications are filed with identical or substantially identical claims to those originally filed in the parent application(s).

IP Australia is addressing this problem through changes to 'case management' practice rather than any legislative changes. Effective October 1, 2010, the following practice will be implemented in stages:

  • Requests for examination of all divisional applications will be expedited by early issuance of examination directions.
  • Where grounds for objection exist, a first adverse examination report will issue in the normal way.

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